Event type: Days Out

Hilbre Island Drawing Adventure

The return of Liverpool Independent Art School’s adventure of visiting the island for one day, drawing and painting and then returning for a civilised throw-down in the White Lion.

They start the day with a coffee at Toast café at the train station then walk down to beach and out to the island together.

Obviously weather can change our plans there so if the event is rained off we will reschedule for the next doable weekend date and refund anyone who’s not available on that day. They haven’t done this since last summer and it’s a bit of a hike out to the island so remember to bring sun cream, water and snacks and sensible clothes!

They really are excited to get their jewel in the crown summer day out back (some ticket discounts are available for LIAS patrons )

Queer 4 You

The day is a youth-led and co-produced event that aims to promote values surrounding connection, hope, and mental health. In such an uncertain time, with hatred and bigotry becoming so rampant, their young people wanted to create a space where LGBTQIA+ people and marginalised people could feel safe, seen, and heard.

There will be workshops, ran by creative young people, taking place throughout the day in the Mann Island Atrium. You can choose between a writing workshop, two art workshops, and a yoga workshop!

Within the RIBA building, there will be a young person-led exhibition which focuses on themes of hope and connection, and a quiet sensory space available to all who wish to use it. A book swap within the RIBA building will also be available for anyone interested!

A Sense of Green at Incredible Edible

Join Heart of Glass for an action-packed family -friendly Saturday at Court Hey Park’s community allotment to launch an autumn programme, celebrating our community’s love and appreciation of local green spaces.

The day includes a range of activities from a creative celebration of local bird species and hands-on art and embroidery workshops to facilitated discussions about the climate crisis. They invite you to listen, watch, create and reflect on the wild spaces right on our doorstep. See below for more information and how to book onto individual workshops.

Environmental Justice Questions: Workshop
10.30am – 12.30pm and 2.30pm – 3.30pm, Booking required

Environmental Justice Questions, organised and edited by Harun Morrison, is a compilation of questions for discussion and debate. Harun has invited a range of people including activists, writers, artworkers, theorists, architects, chefs, natural historians and horticulturalists to propose a question relating to environmental justice that can stimulate conversation. The workshop will involve a series of small-group discussions around chosen questions followed by a larger group discussion. Suitable for ages 16+.

Benjamina Albanese: Let’s Make Rubbish Art
11am – 4pm, Drop-in

Part show-and-tell, part artistic play area, Benjamina invites you to make ‘rubbish art’ from a range of materials she has accumulated over years of zero-waste living. Having lived without a general waste bin since 2018, the St Helens-based artist will use the session to challenge what we think of as ‘waste’, our role as waste producers, the waste we produce, and how that ‘waste’ might be reused.

Avian Amble with Paul Harfleet
12.30pm, Booking required

A special sharing / celebration event at Court Hey Park, where attendees of Paul Harfleet’s Birds Can Fly workshops are invited to share their bird-inspired creations, and have their portraits taken to add to an exhibition of ‘gently referenced’ ornithological looks. There’s a prize for best dressed, and a free lunch too. Meet us at the park café in your best feathers if you’d like to join the walk, or come along to watch! Birds Can Fly uses art, illustration and design to educate and inspire bird lovers and promote creativity, kindness and acceptance, encouraging an inclusive community of ornithologists and naturalists. Sign up to be part of the Birds Can Fly workshops here.

Lunch

Enjoy a delicious  homemade lunch on Heart of Glass! From 1pm – 3pm grab some free food and  take a tour round an exhibition of work by artist John Maguire and volunteers from Incredible Edible, exploring how we can help to look after our precious ‘green lungs’ (parks, gardens and fields). Meanwhile,writer and social advocate Bernadette McBride will be sharing poems from creative writing workshops with local group Cut Glass Writers.

Mythology, Ecology, Embroidery with Becca Rauer
2.30pm – 4.30pm, Booking required

Folklore, mythology and storytelling have been used for centuries to influence behaviour and instil morals in children and adults. Many of these powerful stories include environmental conservation messages that continue to influence policy today. Becca’s embroidery workshop will explore how folklore can help shape attitudes towards green spaces, inviting you to share stories and knowledge to inspire original embroidered artworks. Becca invites sewers and crafters of all experience and levels to take part in this session and will be on hand to offer tips and share skills with those less confident.

Here’s the link to their full programme – people can book onto individual workshops via Eventbrite: https://www.heartofglass.org.uk/project-and-events/events/a-sense-of-green-at-incredible-edible

Imagine Bamboo Is Everywhere

Come along to Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere this August – family-friendly outdoor events with giant bamboo structures, playful performances, music, circus workshops and crafting.

Marvel at large-scale artworks made by local artists, with bamboo harvested locally from Ness Botanic Gardens.

Enjoy music from the Imagine Bamboo Orchestra, led by Pagoda Arts with young musicians from across the region. Look out for promenade physical theatre performances, run away with the bamboo circus, then have a go at making your own creation in our bamboo crafting zone.

Why are we interested in bamboo? 

Bamboo is widely held to be one of the most important sustainable materials in the world. It has uses in design, construction, green innovation, farming and carbon capture.

Local residents, young climate leaders and artists from across Liverpool City Region are coming together with engineers from Atelier One and bamboo specialists from four continents to explore bamboo as a sustainable material for the future.

We are using locally grown borinda bamboo, originally from mountainous Tibet, brought to the UK by a botanist working for University of Liverpool and grown at Ness Botanic Gardens, who have kindly allowed us to explore what we can design, make, build as we Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere in Liverpool City Region.

Photo Credit: Andrew Moore

Guided Visit: The Hepworth & York...

Bluecoat Display Centre are delighted to announce our next guided visit to The Hepworth, Wakefield followed by a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).

They will provide the bus to both venues. (Booking is essential as places are limited). Ticket price includes transport, entry and guided tour at The Hepworth and entry to YSP.

Meet at Bluecoat Display Centre at 8.45am. Depart promptly for The Hepworth at 9am on the bus.

Arrive at The Hepworth at approx. 11am for coffee & guided tour.

Lunch from 1.00pm at the Hepworth cafe. (Please note that lunch is not included in the ticket price but can be purchased at the Hepworth Cafe. Alternatively, you are welcome to bring a packed lunch to be enjoyed in the Hepworth’s gardens.)

Leave for YSP at approx 2.30pm.

Browse the galleries and outdoor spaces at YSP.

Meet back at the bus at 5.45pm. Leave promptly at 6pm to arrive in Liverpool for 8.00-8.30pm.

The Hepworth is an award winning gallery located in the heart of Yorkshire, overlooking the River Calder. It opened in 2011 to house Wakefield’s art collection whilst providing a legacy for Barbara Hepworth in the town where she was born. You will enjoy a guided tour of The Hepworth’s gallery spaces, including The Art of The Potter exhibition.

This display shows a range of major makers working in ceramics and sculpture from 1930 to now. Included are works by British studio ceramicists including Hans Coper, Bernard and Janet Leach, and Lucie Rie plus recent acquisitions by Elizabeth Fritsch, Akiko Hirai and Magdalene Odundo. Many of these makers have been shown at Display Centre over the years: works featured in the show by John Ward were originally bought by collectors from Bdc and were then later bequeathed to The Hepworth.

The Hepworth Garden, designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, will also be open to enjoy, with various sculptures on display amid the vibrant floral blooms. Dotted about the stunning outside space are large scale works including works by Barbara Hepworth and Halima Cassell.

* There will be the opportunity to have lunch at The Hepworth’s cafe or browse in the shop before heading back to the bus. (Please note, lunch is not included in the price of the ticket).

Back on the bus, you will drive to YSP. This leading international centre for modern and contemporary sculpture is situated in the Bretton Hall Estate in West Yorkshire. Here, you are free to browse the indoor galleries featuring displays by Takahashi McGil & Emma Lawrenson and Leonardo Drew plus the YSP Shop and cafe. You can also explore the stunning outdoor landscape which features around 100 large scale works including sculptures by Phyllida Barlow, Elisabeth Frink, Andy Goldsworthy and Antony Gormley

Booking information: Please call us on 0151 709 4014 to book your place and pay over the phone.

Image credits: The Art of The Potter Exhibition at The Hepworth, image courtesy of The Hepworth, & Henry Moore, Large Two Forms, 1969, courtesy Henry Moore Foundation. Photo © Jonty Wilde, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Prescot Elizabethan Fayre

Prescot’s Elizabethan Fayre returns this year to celebrate the town’s Elizabethan heritage and its renaissance, all with a contemporary twist.

The free fayre is a popular date in Knowsley’s events calendar and there will be plenty for everyone to enjoy. It will be a fun-filled day packed with theatre and dance performances, circus skills, craft workshops, music, heritage walks, artisan stalls and more.

Visitors can also experience a piece of Tudor history, with candle making, musical minstrels, archery and soldier school. There might even be an appearance from Queen Elizabeth I herself!

Prescot’s history is quite remarkable – in Elizabethan times it was the only place in the whole of the country, aside from London, to have a free-standing purpose-built theatre. Today it is home to Shakespeare North Playhouse, a new theatre and cultural venue in the heart of the town inspired by William Shakespeare and his love of storytelling.

Get involved

  • Help make the Prescot Bird with Arts Groupie
  • Get Sketchy with Illustrator Gill Smith
  • Willow Weaving from Twig Twister
  • Clay making with Prescot Community Curators
  • Heritage Walking Tours of Prescot
  • Free Face Painting

Performances

  • Fools Rush In – Circus Jesters Steve ‘n’ Harry
  • The Egg People – The Waggle Bees
  • Jan Williams Theatre School
  • Liverpool Signing Choir
  • Arts Groupie – The Actor’s Corner
  • Curbside Ceilidh – Folk Dance Remixed
  • Bring the Fire – Fire and Circus Show
  • Altered Scale Theatre – Captain Parrot and His Ship of Stories
  • Petit Ullaloom – The Dead Average Sonnets Society
  • Imaginarium Theatre – Fools and Fairies Parade
  • Poppy the Bubble Fairy
  • And more!

The full programme with times for events is available here. You can also follow CultureKnowsley on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates.

Incy Wincy Wanders

Head along for a wander-full Wednesday morning. Take a story-themed stroll through Calderstones park with our Storyhunters every week. Explore the great outdoors with nature-based activities, share stories, and sing along to your favorite songs.

Their adventures will take us off the beaten path, so make sure to dress your little ones accordingly. Bundle up in wellies and puddle suits for cooler months, and don’t forget sun cream and hats for summer strolls.

After a morning of exploring, you’ll relax with a warm cup of hot chocolate and some fresh fruit.

Sessions last 90 minutes. The adventure begins outside of the Mansion House.

April Family Activities at the Bluecoa...

Join Bluecoat for two jam-packed days of arts activities to inspire your budding artists. They’ll be celebrating Earth Day 2023 with immersive activities in their Performance space.

Easter Half Term
Tue 4, Wed 5, Thu 6, and Tue 11, Wed 12, Thu 13 Apr, 12-3pm
Free, drop in
Stop by their upstairs bistro during half term for a variety of free creative activities and a bite to eat.
Suggested age: 3+

April Family Weekend
Sat 22 & Sun 23 Apr, 1-4pm.
Free, drop in

Suitable for all ages.

Mersey Trails – Beginners Guide ...

From rural fishing village to a magical destination, ‘the pool of life’ is an exceptional place.

Make sure you see the obvious and famous, but don’t miss the unusual and mystical by orientating properly from the start with our Beginner’s Guide to Liverpool.

Event

The tour begins at The Bluecoat and will take in the Old Dock, Albert Dock, Pier Head, St Nicholas’ Church and finishes at St. George’s Hall.

A well-rounded walking tour of Liverpool’s history taking in some of its famous landmarks and understanding its rise and fall and rise again to prominence.

Mersey Trails – Mersey Music His...

Everybody knows The Beatles, but this tour looks past the fame of one band into the rich and fascinating history of Liverpool’s music scene.

From Liverpool’s musically classical beginning in the Victorian era, to it’s surge of Black music in the 1960s, find out how bands like The Beatles found their sound amongst many musical delights.

Event

Discover the city that attracted sell out concerts from Hollywood’s golden era, and how Liverpool continued its international chart domination in the 80s through queer punk.

Beginning at St George’s Hall travel back in time with to uncover Liverpool’s hidden music history.